General Certificate of Education
The General Certificate of Education ( GCE ) is the British school leaving certificate , which is equivalent to the German technical diploma.
structure
British students generally take exams at the end of the last two years of school ( Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth ) in the three to four subjects they have chosen based on their personal interests and abilities. After the first year, the student completes subject-specific exams at the level of an AS level (Advanced Subsidiary). In the following year, the student takes courses that prepare for the A2 level exams. If a student has passed both exams in one subject, the AS level changes to an A level (Advanced Level). AS and A2 exams are weighted equally: You can achieve a maximum of 300 points in each examination and thus compensate for a potentially worse result in the A2 year in the easier AS year (e.g. an AS level with 271/300 points and grade A plus the A2 exam with 209/300 points and grade C results in an A-Level with 480/600 points and the final grade A).
Examination Boards
The GCE exams are designed and graded by Examination Boards. These boards are partially privatized, but are subject to state control with regard to the teaching content. Core curricula are established by the government to ensure that board curricula remain comparable. In detail, however, the curricula ( specifications ) differ from one another. Schools are not tied to a specific Examination Board, but can freely determine which exam should be held in a subject at the school. This is to ensure that the teaching concepts and content prevail which the respective teaching staff of the school considers most suitable.
The major examination boards are:
- AQA, the English Examination Board,
- OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts Examinations),
- Edexcel, the only privately organized board to date,
- (NI) CCEA, the Northern Irish Board and
- WJEC, the Welsh Board.
exams
Most of the exams for the GCE are written papers . But there are also practical tests ( practical exams ) and housework ( courseworks ), which is similar to skilled work created during the school year. Most exams are held by the Examination Boards on two dates, January and June. Certain A2 subjects (e.g. Edexcel Deutsch) and all AEA exams (advanced exams for the 10 percent of the students who achieved the best grades) are only offered in June.
Module system
The final grade of a year is made up of individual examination performances ( modules ), which are weighted differently. The individual module can also be broken down into partial exams ( units ). For example, in order to complete the "Laboratory Work" module in chemistry, one must pass a practical and written examination, both of which make up 50% of the module grade. The modules are put together in such a way that the teaching rhythm can be based on the strengths and weaknesses of the respective student. In this way, a student who shows particular weaknesses in relation to certain course content can catch up on examination modules later. For example, math students who need tuition in the "Statistics" module can receive targeted support.
Course of exams
The written exams should take place simultaneously for all students worldwide. Two time slots are provided for this every day, starting at 9:00 GMT ( morning exams ) and 13:30 GMT ( afternoon exams ). A written individual examination usually lasts 60 to 90 minutes. Most of the time, all exams in a subject are held on one day. The total duration of the examination in a subject is limited to three hours per day. Because the schools are free to choose Examination Boards, there may be clashes of the scheduled time windows (for example, the Edexcel A2 German exam takes place at the same time as the OCR A2 physics exam) for which the following special regulations apply: Up to one total exam duration of three hours, the exams must be written in direct succession. If the total duration of the exam exceeds three hours, candidates are allowed to take a 90-minute supervised lunch break. With a total examination duration of more than six hours, the candidate may take a supervised night's sleep the next morning at the beginning of the morning time window. The written exams are usually held in large meeting rooms ( exam halls ).
Homework is done during the school year and graded either internally by the faculty or externally by the board towards the end of the year. The dates for the oral and practical exams are usually set in-house. Special rules of conduct must be observed during all tests: The examinee must not have a cell phone with him. These will be collected at the entrance to the examination room. In addition, the candidate should not talk more until he officially fired ( dismissed ) is. Failure to comply with these regulations or attempts at manipulation will exclude you from the test or even from the entire GCE.
Attempts to cheat lead to disqualification in the respective examination subject. In severe cases, attempted fraud can lead to the withdrawal of all examination results. If such incidents accumulate at a school, the school's right to take examinations can be withdrawn.
correction
After the exam, all exam materials are sent to the appropriate board, which sends them to the reviewer either in the original or as a scanned electronic document. They evaluate the examination results and send the corrections ( marked scripts ) back to the board. First, five percent of the work is corrected using a given solution sketch. Then it is determined whether the solution sketch ( marking scheme ), according to which the work is graded, should be expanded to include further alternative answer options or not. The remaining work is then corrected. A more experienced second corrector checks on a random basis whether the examiner has adhered to the sketched solution. The corrections can be viewed by the examinees for a fee.
UMS marks
To ensure that there is no grade gradient between the Examination Boards, the exams are graded on the basis of a uniform difficulty scale , the Uniform Mark System (UMS). This UMS scale is intended to ensure the greatest possible comparability of individual examination performances. The exams are compared on the one hand with those of previous years and on the other hand with those of other boards. In addition, an average of the points actually achieved ( raw marks ) is calculated. Based on this value and the estimates made by the Board of Examiners, the result is devalued ( downscaled ) when the test was relatively easy or upgraded ( upgraded ) if the test was unusually heavy. These UMS grades vary from year to year, but trends can be identified in individual subjects. For example, the grade in mathematics is often devalued, whereas in physics it is usually upgraded.
Results
The results are generally made available to the schools on the Internet two months after the examination. One day later, students can also pick up the provisional results in printed form from their school. These preliminary certificates are issued individually by each Examination Board so that a student can receive up to five certificates. This shows the number of points in the individual units and the overall grade. If a candidate is not satisfied with his result, there is an opportunity for him to contest these results. There is also the option for the student to request a photocopy or the original script within a period of time.
Repeat exams and grade rejection
Repeat exams ( re-sits ) are available to all students. Any number of subject exams can be rewritten. If the examination performance should not be included in the certificate, a grade can be rejected ( decline ).
Exam challenge
The student can dispute the test result. The result will be reviewed depending on the application either for completeness (overlooked pages, etc.) and errors (in the addition of the partial results, etc.) ( re-check ) or content completely re-evaluated ( re-marking ). With re-marking , the work is sent to an experienced second corrector, who grades the work again. Its second correction alone determines the final grade achieved. It can differ from the previous one both upwards and downwards. For an additional fee, the appeal will be processed in an express service .
grades
The grades ( grades ) A to E are awarded. A is the best grade. E is the worst one with which one can just pass (equated with the German 4). Inadequate examinations are graded with U (unclassified). These grades are awarded on the UMS scale:
| 100% - 90% | A * (a *) |
| 89% - 80% | A (a) |
| 79% - 70% | B (b) |
| 69% - 60% | C (c) |
| 59% - 50% | D (d) |
| 49% - 40% | E (e) |
| <40% | U (u) |
Grades are also awarded for individual modules, but these are only for orientation. The only decisive factor are the grades given on the AS and A-Level certificate. These grades are calculated by averaging the results of the modules.
Universities
UCAS
UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service) is responsible for university admissions in the UK (roughly equivalent to the Foundation for University Admissions , formerly ZVS for all courses). The grades are automatically sent to the UCAS twice a year via the Internet (end of September and April) and then forwarded to the universities to which you have applied.
Recognition in Germany
The GCE is recognized in Germany as a subject-specific university entrance and must be recognized by the Central Certificate Recognition Office (for North Rhine-Westphalia). The numerus clausus is calculated using the so-called Bavarian formula , which is based on the UCAS tariff. It can be calculated in a simplified way by using the following table (valid for A-Levels, which were filed from May 2010):
| 1.0 | A * (a *) |
| 1.6 | A (a) |
| 2.2 | B (b) |
| 2.8 | C (c) |
| 3.4 | D (d) |
| 4.0 | E (e) |
| 6.0 | U (u) |
In order for the certificate to be recognized, various conditions must be met. These are listed in the anabin database of the Central Office for Foreign Education .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Recognition of the General Certificate of Education (GCE) in Germany . Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst eV Accessed on April 19, 2019.